Five State DOTs, Contractor Partners Honored for Hurricane Recovery Efforts

ARTBA Award Underscores Industry’s Vital Role in Reconnecting Communities 

(WASHINGTON, D.C.)—Transportation officials from Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee were honored today for their extraordinary leadership, resilience, and dedication to reconnecting communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. 

The organizations and their employees were recognized by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) during the group’s annual convention in Kohler, Wis., and presented with the association’s highest honor, the ARTBA Award.  

Honorees include the Florida Department of Transportation (DOT) and Florida Transportation Builders’ Association; Georgia DOT and the Georgia Highway Contractors Association; North and South Carolina DOTs and Carolinas AGC; and the Tennessee DOT and Tennessee Road Builders Association. 

“In moments of crisis, the importance of transportation infrastructure becomes unmistakably clear,” said ARTBA CEO Dave Bauer. “The men and women who worked quickly and collaboratively to rebuild infrastructure following Helene remind us of the vital role transportation professionals play in connecting, restoring, and sustaining American communities.”  

Helene, which made landfall two years ago this week, is the most destructive storm since Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005. Helene’s devastating floods, wind, and landslides affected large portions of the southeastern U.S. and southern Appalachia, wiping out infrastructure and taking 250 lives.   

Within hours of the storm’s passage, each state deployed thousands of workers to restore access to communities cut off from critical resources. In Tennessee, where 49 road segments were destroyed, crews logged 90,000 labor hours in the first few days alone. North Carolina mobilized 2,000 transportation workers to reopen access across a region where more than 1,400 roads were closed, ultimately repairing or replacing 270 bridges and 870 culverts within the first six months. In Florida, 800 crew members cleared 12,300 miles of roadway within days, including 61 crews that reopened I-10 in less than six hours. South Carolina reopened 859 of its 900 damaged bridges within a month. Meanwhile, in Georgia, 2,000 GDOT employees, more than half the agency’s workforce, removed 4.8 million cubic yards of debris from 35 sites.  

Established in 1960, the ARTBA Award recognizes outstanding contributions that advance the association’s broad goals. Past recipients include a U.S. president, governors, more than 25 members of Congress, two U.S. secretaries of transportation, and dozens of senior leaders from government and the private-sector transportation construction industry.  

About ARTBA
Founded in 1902, ARTBA brings together all facets of the transportation construction industry to responsibly advocate for infrastructure investment and policy that meet the nation’s need for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods. ARTBA also provides value-added programs and services that help its members thrive in a competitive world.  

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